Boeheim’s Army is set for TBT, and Shaun Belbey made sure the roster got the help it needed before Tuesday’s opener against Hall In.
The Syracuse-based entry now lists 10 players, with six carrying Syracuse ties and four without them. Belbey brought in two point guards and two big men, giving the team the kind of balance it was missing. There’s also a new wrinkle in The Basketball Tournament this summer that could affect who actually suits up, because teams now have to work from a reserve list.
One of the additions will look very familiar to anyone who watched Boeheim’s Army last summer.
Ty Nichols is back, and last year he was the guy who buried the Army. Playing for We Are D3, Nichols went off for 36 points in D3’s 81-78 win at OCC. He was everywhere in that game, knocking down 3s, attacking the rim and finishing plays as a 6-foot point guard who wrapped up his college career at Keene State in 2019 after averaging 27.4 points in his final season.
Belbey said he reached out to Nichols on Instagram after last summer’s TBT run to compliment him, and the two exchanged messages again over the winter. When Nichols saw Boeheim’s Army was back in the field this summer, he got in touch with Belbey and asked about joining up.
“I thought that was really cool,” Belbey said. “I’ve said this before but I love guys who ask me to play.
Guys who want to be involved, guys who want to play, guys who are hungry for the money. Too many times I have to bang guys’ doors down and like force them to play.
And it’s not always a recipe for success.”
Nichols, 29, has built a pro résumé that includes stops in Kosovo, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Last season he played mostly in Greece for Peristeri, where he averaged 16.4 points, 1.8 steals, 3.6 assists and a team-high 27.7 minutes per game. He later appeared in two games in Israel for Ramat Gan and averaged 14.5 points.
The other point guard addition is Jalen Walker, a player Belbey knows well. Walker starred at Michigan State, where he averaged 18.4 points, 2.8 assists and 2.9 rebounds in his final season and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors. He began at Northeastern before transferring to MSU.
Belbey and Walker got close two years ago when Belbey was coaching the Mavericks’ G League team, the Texas Legends, and Walker was a rookie. Walker, a New York native who lives on Long Island, spent last season with Melbourne United in Australia’s NBL, averaging 14.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 27 minutes per game.
He shot 35.1% from 3 and 80.2% from the line, and he was a teammate of Jesse Edwards. Next season, he’ll play for JL Bourg in the French league.
Belbey said Nichols and Walker can both handle the ball or slide over to the 2-guard spot, and he expects them to share the floor plenty.
The frontcourt got two additions as well, starting with Jordan Williams. Williams was Conference USA Player of the Year in 2017 after transferring from Arkansas, and he put up 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds that season for Middle Tennessee, which reached the NCAA Tournament.
Since then, he has played professionally in the G League, Israel, Dubai, Italy, Montenegro, France and Greece. Last season in Greece, he averaged 11.6 points and 6.2 rebounds. He also has TBT experience with Herd That, the Marshall-heavy squad that is not entering a team this year.
“He has the reputation of just being a really gritty player, a guy who comes and shows up every day and just plays really hard,” Belbey said. “I felt like that was something we were missing last summer.
Some inside presence who wants to block shots and rebound and do the dirty things. He does that, but he can also score and make plays on offense.”
The final newcomer is Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu, a 6-foot-10 center from Memphis who is 26 years old and currently with Manresa in Spain. Ehiogu came to Texas from Nigeria when he was 12, started in NAIA basketball, then transferred to UT Arlington before finishing college at Memphis in 2022-23.
At Memphis, he started nine of 30 games and averaged 2.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. He is a member of the Nigerian national team and made his mark in Spain last season with 54 blocks in 34 games, including 30 blocks in 19 EuroCup games.
He’s also in the middle of NBA Summer League action with the Dallas Mavericks. On Monday, Ehiogu had 16 points, four rebounds and two blocks in a 96-88 win over the Grizzlies.
Belbey said Ehiogu is friends with Jimmy Boeheim, and the two played together in Germany a couple years ago.
“He’s a really good shot-blocker, just insanely athletic,” Belbey said. “Again, that’s something I felt was missing last year - someone to protect the rim. He’s a lob threat as well.”
Belbey was required to submit his reserve list by Monday night, July 13, and TBT teams must activate players from that list 24 hours before a game. Three players with Syracuse ties are on Boeheim’s Army reserve list, and they may or may not be added depending on availability, injuries or any last-minute roster changes.
Boeheim’s Army opens Tuesday against Hall In at 7 p.m. at Seton Hall’s Walsh Gymnasium, with FS1 televising the game. If it advances, it will face the winner of the Kentucky-Louisville alumni game on July 26. Teams have to win five games to claim the $2 million prize.
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